Sunday, August 24, 2008

We met my friend's baby recently, who was very gorgeous. My daughter was mighty impressed and spent ages holding her and trying to make her smile.

Afterwards she was raving about her and confided that she was "as cute as a guinea pig"*.



* This is actually high praise indeed, as there has never been anything as cute as guinea pig before in her eyes, guinea pigs are the pinnacle of cutedom.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

All is revealed

This is what I knew.

Overheard

Teenagers talking without a trace of sarcasm or awareness:

"Yeah, she's really old: 21."

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Oh, of course we don't blame the victims. Except when we do.

Apparently in the past year 14 women had their compensation as victims of crime cut because they were drinking, by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

To get to the stage of being awarded compensation, that a crime has been committed must be established, right?

Seems logical, yes?

So ok, these women were raped. Can't get away from that, can we?

But clearly because they had been drinking, they weren't as raped. They were 3/4 as raped perhaps, or maybe less. Hardly raped at all.

I am glad that the CICA "has issued a statement acknowledging it should not have happened in any case and confirming it is not its policy to reduce compensation for rape victims because of alcohol consumption.

A spokesman for the authority said: "We have just completed a review of our staff instructions, operating procedures and structure to ensure greater consistency in decision making."

The Ministry of Justice also said it was not its policy to "reduce the level of award to a victim of rape due to alcohol consumption.

"This stance supports our view that a victim of rape is not in any way culpable due to alcohol consumption."

I am furious that for at least 14 women this year, and who knows how many previously, they did basically say "you were asking for it".

Monday, August 11, 2008

Virgin on the narked

I really don't know why I suffer virgin media to be my home page. It annoys me on a regular basis with its stupid "news" stories. Prior ones I have ranted about on here have been Big Brother's new chair #rolls eyes# and the sexiest jobs for women #pulls hair out#...

Today's photo story about the stupidest Olympic sports vexes me. If you look at their pictures of the sports people concerned, you can see they are trained to the nth degree, in their physical prime, positively rippling with well-toned musculature, and have clearly devoted themselves to their sports. It shines out at you.

I'm not a big fan of sporting events usually, but it miffs me that some twat sitting at his or her computer thinks it's hilarious to denigrate their abilities and determination, and gets paid to do so. I mean, all sports are pretty much futile if you get down to it: there's not a great deal of point in chucking a javelin now we have guns and supermarkets for example, nor in running about with a ball generally. It is fun and good exercise, 'though.

The value judgements placed on sports are more than a bit screwy, if you ask me. Football revered and handball laughed at? Pish, tush and fourpence. They are all highly trained, determined people and I don't think it's cool to put one set on a pedestal and snark at the others. Not cool, dude.


Finished: The Minotaur

Saturday, August 09, 2008

The secret lives of posteriors

Flipping through channels we caught a burst of Trinny and Susannah. Apparently some woman's bum had "lost its identity".

I have nothing to add.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Hergé's adventures of FaceBook

Formerly, FaceBook had a question-mark picture for people who choose not to put up a profile picture. It's changed to this below fairly recently.

For the first time I had a good look at it today and it struck me that it's not a very representative sort of silhouette. It's very blokey looking.

Or it could be Tin Tin.

It could be a woman with short hair of course, I acknowledge this is possible and have indeed visited the hairdresser* for buzz-cuts in my time...

But you know, it's a bit like our traffic light people, if we're representing human beings round about the place, there's the default right there. A bloke. Not a bloke with an afro or a turban, of course, just a bloke (with a quiff, oddly). Elvis at large. Tin Tin on the town.

If you're going to do a silhouette of a person, why not choose an obviously female one just to break the monotony? Play with the possibilities, deny that default? I presume the thought is, (if even thought was employed), that male Facebookers be put off and feel excluded by such a depiction. They probably would, but then why should women accept being represented by the male again, why should they be excluded?

What was wrong with the question mark, eh?

* Well, for the buzz-cut it was actually M with his clippers rather than an actual hairdresser. Why pay someone to shave one's head? As long as your accomplice looks out for ears as they go.

Neh-neh-neh-neh-neh

I know something they don't know.